Ryder is giving me the strength and power I need to take control.
And dang it, I’ve fallen for him even more.
CHAPTER 24
Ryder
JEAN SIBELIUS — ÉTUDE NO. 2 FROM 13 PIECES, OP. 76
For the last few nights, Lily and I have been practicing self-defense before heading to the theater. The first night I taught her to escape from my grip (and she kneed me in the groin), I could sense the change in her emotions by the music she played. It was my new favorite piece of hers, and I’ll never forget the name—Brahms’Intermezzo Opus 118 Number 2in A Major. I made her say it twenty times so I wouldn’t forget, but she said she’ll always remember that it’s my favorite.
She made progress over the last few days of self-defense practice, but I still worry about her. She might be prepared to face a physical attack, but I’m not sure she’s ready for the mental struggle she’ll face seeing people in public for the first time. I wish she had taken my suggestion for therapy.
So now, on Saturday morning, I’ve been anxiously waiting outside the entrance of the Flower Festival for twenty minutes. It’s a beautiful day—the sun shining in the blue March sky, a light breeze fluttering the flowers marking the entrance. Lily said her family would arrive around nine and then they’d walk to the farms, but I couldn’t sleep last nightand decided to get an early start. Unfortunately, I woke Gwen when I went into the kitchen to make coffee. She was nice about it, though, and offered to come with me. That way I don’t look like a creeper doing nothing outside the festival alone.
Now we’re standing by the gates, watching the people filter into the festival, and I’m scanning every group walking up to see when Lily will arrive with the Stones.
“Do you think they got lost?” Gwen teases.
“Hah, hah,” I fake laugh.
“Or maybe Agatha found a spaceship and decided to fly in.”
I chuckle for real this time, but my eyes are still too focused on the crowd to have more of a reaction. Because heading our way are the Stones.
First, I notice Adam and Henry. They’re leading the way, their tall, imposing bodies impossible to miss. Their fiancées stand on either side of them. Between them all, I can make out Lily with her father and Agatha.
Lily, with her golden hair in waves, her curves accentuated by her fitted sweater and jeans, and…wow.
“Just friends, huh?” Gwen whispers.
I look over at her. “What do you mean?”
“Watch your face, or her brothers will know exactly how you feel about her.” She taps my chin closed, and I want to argue with her, but right now is not the time or place.
“Do you see her?” I whisper.
“Oh, I see her,” she replies. “Everyone sees her.”
I look around us and realize she’s right. Everyone who was about to walk into the festival has stopped and is gawking at the Stone family. People whisper to each other, and I hear the name “Lily” floating on the wind.
Just like she feared.
As the family approaches, I finally get a glimpse of Lily’sface. I wish I could say she looks happy, even just a little nervous, but that’s not what I see.
She’s terrified. And this isn’t an external threat she can knee in the groin. This is one she has to face internally.
Still, I feel the need to save her. I don’t think much about what I’m doing. I just walk right up to the family. Adam’s scar across his eye is terrifying, and he and Henry scowl at me as I approach, but I hold out my hand and say, “Hey, guys. Good to see you.”
The brothers glance at each other, neither of them taking my outstretched hand. Crap. Maybe this was the wrong call. I see Gwen appear at my side for moral support, but she doesn’t get a chance to say anything before Agatha comes to my rescue. She skirts around the brothers, her silver cape flapping around her, and rushes up to me, wrapping me in a hug. “Ryder, darling! So good to see you!” She titters a laugh. “And Gwen Darling! That’s your actual last name!” She comes back to me, snakes one arm around my waist, and turns to the family. “Do you all remember Ryder Hawthorne, Peter’s friend? And Gwen’s cousin, of course.”
Adam’s and Henry’s faces don’t change. They’re intent on covering Lily and keeping her protected, which frustrates me to no end. Do they realize they’re making everything worse?
“I saw Ryder a few weeks ago in Mason and Madeleine’s shop,” Henry says, holding his hand out to shake mine now. I exhale in relief and shake his hand, trying not to make a show of how strongly I’m gripping his hand. Men read a lot into the strength of another man’s handshake. Henry moves on to shake Gwen’s hand, and Adam’s next to shake mine. He doesn’t say anything, but he sizes me up as he grades my grip.
Agatha introduces us to Mr. Stone, Isabelle, and Luna, whom I also met in the cookie shop, and then says, “Do you remember Lily?”
Her brothers scowl at her, questioning her decision to make a show of Lily’s presence, but they don’t know what Agatha knows—that I’m the safest person they’ll see today. Reluctantly, they separate, and I get my first full-on, clear look at Lily.
